Mitsubishi A6M Zero Walk Around
- Thread starter ZeeOSix
- Start date
I had read an article about the ZERO awhile back. It read that Japan built them very shoddy. All they were worried about was that the plane could fly, drop bombs, and try to shoot other planes down. It stated that the Japanese government didn't care about the pilot that much.
Since you are in the PNW, note that There’s a flying one at Flying Heritage in Everett at Paine Field. You’d have to pay to see it inside the museum most all the time. But if you come to a free fly day in the summer, you can watch it fly from the flight line, and see them up close afterwards.
When I lived in FL. my son and I visited FANTASY OF FLIGHT in Winter Haven. They had some very interesting planes there.
I don't know if they were "shoddy". My understanding is that they were built to an extremely high manufacturing standard. They had advances (flush rivets) that other countries hadn't figured out yet. They also drilled out holes in components to shave weight; that was an old trick I heard of from my bicycling days. However, the design sacrificed survivability for its maneuverability, load, and range. Wasn't it almost like a stunt plane with weapons?
Also - wasn't one of the problems with the Zero really the lack of enough experienced pilots?
The Zero had a unique connecting system for the engine: There was one big connector at the bulkhead for all fuel, oil, electric "What ever" lines.
They could change a damaged engine much faster on the airfield, bring the ariplane back to fight. On every other airplane you had to disconnect and reconnect every single line and wire. Takes much more time.
They could change a damaged engine much faster on the airfield, bring the ariplane back to fight. On every other airplane you had to disconnect and reconnect every single line and wire. Takes much more time.
What I watched in OP's video, and what some here have stated, the article I read seems very misleading.
What I watched in OP's video, and what some here have stated, the article I read seems very misleading.
It was built to shave off as much weight as possible, even at the risk that a hole in the fuel tank would mean it probably wasn't coming back. They figured if they made it harder to hit with its maneuverability, they would trade that gladly.
The added maneuverability did seem to work at the start of the war.
That's because no one had quite encountered anything like it.
I don't necessarily buy that it was poorly built. It was extremely well built. But it was delicate by design. In car terms it was a like a go-kart compared to its opponents that were built to be sturdier. Catch me if you can, so to say.
Isn't that always the case with "superior" military tech or tactics? Someone finds a new weapon or mnore likely a new way to use a weapon and the enemy can't counter it immediately.
The way I understood it, nobody really thought that anyone would be that crazy to do it the way they did. Back when air to air combat was mostly with machine guns, most combat aircraft were designed to take a hit.
There were certainly a lot of misconceptions about Japanese manufacturing. Back then many in the west thought that they couldn't possibly build anything of high quality. And when the Allies finally got a chance to look at one they realized how well built it was.
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The Zero was a Howard Hughes design that our military rejected before WWII started and he sold it to the Japanese.
The biggest design flaw was it had was no self sealing fuel tanks and no armor for the pilot.
I guess the omission of the above saved weight.
The Japanese had excellent pilots at the beginning of the war but thru attrition they soon were eliminated and the result was poorly trained replacements.
The biggest design flaw was it had was no self sealing fuel tanks and no armor for the pilot.
I guess the omission of the above saved weight.
The Japanese had excellent pilots at the beginning of the war but thru attrition they soon were eliminated and the result was poorly trained replacements.
The zero was a good plane at the start of the war and a hopelessly outdated turd at the end.
The same could be said about the bf109 despite all the efforts to modernize it.
The same could be said about the bf109 despite all the efforts to modernize it.
That and inexperienced pilots near the end of the war.
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